Within 14 days of the filing, the Commission will issue a notice of the filing of the application that will contain a preliminary schedule for expeditious processing of the application.

Within 30 days of filing the application, Commission staff will notify the applicant if the application does not conform to the Commission's regulations. An application that does not conform to the regulations is considered deficient. The applicant has up to 90 days from the date of the deficiency notification to correct the application or the Commission will reject it.

Within 30 days of filing the application, the Director of the Office of Energy Projects will also issue a determination resolving any outstanding requests for additional information gathering or studies made in comments on the preliminary licensing proposal or draft license application.

If the application is complete, and staff does not require any additional information to process the application, Commission staff will publish notice that the application is accepted and ready for environmental analysis (REA). Interventions, comments, recommendations, and terms and conditions are due within 60 days of the notice. Reply comments to any filings are due with 45 days of the close of the comment period.

Within 60 days from the issuance of the REA notice, the applicant must provide the Commission with a copy of the Section 401 Water Quality Certification, a copy of the request for Section 401 Water Quality Certification, or evidence of waiver of the water quality certification [see 18 CFR § 5.23(b)].